Veteran New York City Firefighter Matt Long will be one of the featured speakers at the Official Dedication of the Public Safety Service Memorial on Sept. 11 in Williams Park in the Village of Gibsonburg.

Long was a firefighter with East Harlem’s Ladder Company 43 on the morning of Sept 11, 2001 when his company responded to the World Trade Center. Upon their arrival, their Lieutenant huddled the company together not far from the towers to make sure they all knew what the plan would be on that morning. Those few minutes of instruction likely saved their lives as the first tower collapsed as Matt Long and his fellow firefighters were running towards it.

After the village gets though the transition to an interim police chief, Walbridge Mayor Ed Kolanko expects the search process for a replacement for Chief Ken Frost to start.

A meeting of village council’s committee-of-the-whole was scheduled for this past Thursday to discuss Frost’s resignation.

The mayor said he will appoint officer Walt Tylicki as interim chief.

“I want to help answer any questions that council may have. I’ve already talked with them but I want to get everybody together in a group and make sure we’re all on the same page,” Mayor Kolanko said before the meeting. “This is a good opportunity for Ken. I’m happy for him. With his background and his education and talents, to go serve a larger agency is a total benefit.

Organizers of a mentoring program for students in Ottawa County say the program will be in place this school year at the PreK-8 building in the Woodmore district where it will serve fifth and sixth graders.

Bob Hathaway, a coordinator for the ‘Til Next Time Mentoring Program, said he’s confident he can recruit 20 adults for the program as it expands into Woodmore.

A former teacher and guidance counselor for nearly 20 years at Woodmore, he’s spent much of the summer laying the groundwork for implementing the program in the school district.

When school lets out, work remains in the district during the summer months. In the Oregon City Schools District, nearly 100 projects were completed during the 10 weeks of summer, Dean Sandwisch, director of business affairs in the district, said at a recent school board meeting.

Many of the projects were funded by revenue from a Permanent Improvement levy.

Sandwich thanked the maintenance, custodial and summer staff who worked on the improvements.

“Every building had projects going on,” he said. Among the highlights:

Although the permit process doesn’t require public comment, residents of Benton Township may submit their comments to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency about Rocky Ridge Development’s application to accept spent lime into a local quarry.

In an email message to two township residents last week, Darla Peelle, a spokesperson for the Ohio EPA, said concerns should be sent to the EPA’s Division of Materials and Waste Management, Attn: Rocky Ridge Development, P.O. Box 1049, Columbus, O. 43216.

“Comments will be considered, but commenters will not receive a response,” the email says.

Currently, the company has authorization to mix spent lime from the City of Toledo water treatment plant with soil and place the mixture on land around the quarry but not in the pit itself.